54 Tasting Notes

I have the muslin tea sachets. This is a very floral-fruity tea…it would make a nice body fragrance/eau de toilette for the Spring/Summer months.

Aroma: Very floral-fruity with a slightness of tea aroma mingled nicely.

Taste: Again, very floral-fruity clean tea palate. This is a clear, clean tasting tea; I would imagine from Sri Lanka or the lighter of Indian teas. There is no mouth feel to speak of or thickness. The floral-fruity [not able to say which fruits or flowers] notes are the most prominent and the tea is a clean, clear compliment to the floral-fruity characteristics with a slight sweetness. A very nice, delicious tea.

Aftertaste: A clean, clear finish. No drying of the tongue, or thick mouth feel. Marco Polo finishes off clean, clear, floral and fruity with a little lingering sweetness but not overly done.

I would recommend this tea for an after dinner treat over fattening desserts…it is that delicious and sweet, but not cloyingly so. I would highly recommend this tea…a must buy!

Taste: It started out a little, excuse the pun, but a little “watery”…not much to it, a little too mild. The longer it steeped, the more the flavor profile shown through; it is actually really sweet with noticeable cocoa notes. Also, the region it hails from, Yunnan, China, you can detect in the flavor…a little earthiness, a little smokiness.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is mostly the chocolate-y cocoa with a little of the earthiness lingering…different.

To me, this tea seems to be a good after dinner tea because of the prominent chocolate notes…tasty.

Taste: I am picky about Chai teas…the spices have to be just right and Zhena’s gypsy tea blends them just right; not too much of anything especially the black pepper. One caveat, the longer you keep this one steeping the pepper becomes only slightly more prominent but not so much so as to throw it out. I keep my sachets in the whole time while drinking and the pepper doesn’t really bother me. This version has a slight sweet taste due to the Rooibos tea used. I have not had the Coconut Chai yet to compare. This is a very good tea to have in the Winter months to start your freezing morning nice and warm…or before going to bed since it’s naturally caffeine free. Forgot to mention, I drank this tea straight-up, “neat” meaning, I did not fix it in the traditional “chai” manner…with sugar and milk mixed in.

Aftertaste: Nice and warm and comforting. Like finishing a delicately spicy meal with some tea…seriously, an amalgamation of sweetness, spice and tea.

Aroma: Typical Assam style. Malty, somewhat astringent, a little “thick” and “heady”…but not as much so as Lipton’s Brisk [regular black].

Taste: Same as aroma…unlike Lipton’s, this is a little smoother with a slight hint of sweetness.

Aftertaste: Thick, a little mouth feel with a delightful smoothness.

I must say, I LOVE everything about this company’s products. Their teas always seem to taste so fresh, everyone I have [including samples received] have not disappointed me yet! No matter how long I keep the sachet in the water, Zhena’s gypsy teas do not get overpowering, at least, not to me. Zhena’s gypsy tea packaging is cool too.

Preparation

A little better than the loose leaf format I tried years ago. This was my very first foray into loose leaf teas years ago and I must admit, I did not like it, but thought I would revisit it since Tazo revamped their line and now offers full-leaf teas in sachets for convenience.

Aroma: Very grassy, herbaceous and vegetal (the aroma is a precursor of what’s to come).

Taste: Same as aroma…grassy, herbaceous, vegetal. If you like Chinese green teas, you should like this one…it is very much the Chinese green tea. The grassy, herbaceous, vegetal characteristics are more prominent than Japanese green teas which are sweeter and milder than their Chinese counterparts. There does exist a slight mouth feel.

Aftertaste: The mouth feel lingers as does all of the characteristics of this tea.

Personally, I prefer Japanese green teas over Chinese green teas. This is a nice tea, it’s just that, “nice”. Not sure if I would buy it again, again, I prefer Japanese green teas.

Preparation

Very surprised! I absolutely love this tea especially from Tazo. I tried the China Green tips loose leaf years ago (I was a neophyte to tea then) and didn’t like it very much so I didn’t buy Tazo since, until recently from the Starbuck’s website; I thought of giving it a try again…glad I did.

Aroma: A little mild and a little vibrant (not spicy).

Taste: Surprising given the name of this tea. It is not awakening what-so-ever like Lipton’s Brisk regular black. It is quite mild with a little vibrancy (again, not spicy like a Darjeeling) with a slight mouth feel and a honey sweetness to it…very delicious.

Aftertaste: The sweetness is there but fleeting, the full mouth feel is there as well but the true aftertaste is clear and cleaner than a true-blend Darjeeling.

This tea is a hybrid blend of Indian and Sri Lanka black teas. It is a very enjoyable tea for anytime of day. Awakening is a very acceptable afternoon tea as well as an after dinner tea. I would highly recommend this tea…a must buy!

Preparation

I used my Ingenuitea teapot by Adagio Teas for brewing. I had a sample of the loose leaf format of this particular tea. It tastes like any other Japanese green tea with all of the familiar tasting notes.

Aroma: Vegetal, grassy, spinach and bright.

Taste: Vegetal and spinach. It taste of soaked grapeleaves; very vegetal and spinach. There was a sweetness and an astringency to this tea. The astringency came only because of the steeping time, since I like strong tea, I steeped it for five minutes rather than for three; if steeped for three, then this tea would be sweet, bright (not too astringent) grassy and vegetal with a clean, bright finish.

I would recommend this tea. It is a cleaner, brighter, palate cleansing tea for after a meal. This is a very nice everyday green tea. It is more vegetal than grassy. Bancha is a little more vibrant than it’s older siblings, Gyokuro or Sencha. I really enjoy this tea. To me, it has all the combined characteristics of Sencha (brightness and a little astringent), Kukicha (sweetness), and Dragonwell (cleansing).

Once again, an enjoyable everyday green tea!

Preparation

I am a big fan of this brand, but I must say even though this is a very delicious tea, it is not as fresh tasting as Den’s Tea and I just received it today and opened it today; it could be from the nitrogen that the vaccuum sealed, resealable pouch it comes in. It is a good tea.

See my review on Den’s Tea, I am basically reiterating the same review here.

The freshness issue may be reconcilable, don’t really let it keep you from purchasing because it is a good value, 50ct. gourmet sachets for 20 bucks. The freshness is the only reason why I didn’t rate this tea a 100% score.

This is a must buy tea and comes highly recommended for trying something tasty and venturing into something new.

Preparation

Den’s Tea Genmaicha was my first foray into Genmaicha (green tea [usually Sencha] blended with roasted/toasted brown rice) and I am absolutely hooked! I even bought another premium tea purveyor’s Genmaicha to compare (my review of this tea will come later).

My followers will know already about my steeping routine; I keep the tea bag in the duration of enjoying my cuppa. I enjoy a strong cuppa.

The aroma is of toast, toasted pine nuts and popcorn and yet, it’s clean and earthy simultaneously.

The taste follows what your nose smells. It is very much the tasting notes of what you smell, toasty, nutty, popcorn, clean and earthy. The earthiness comes from the Sencha even though Sencha is known for it’s brighter, somewhat astringent characteristics; but with this tea, the Sencha gives this blend an earthy under-note rather than it’s prominence.

The aftertaste is of roasty, toastiness with a clean finish.

This tea is very comforting, soothing, warming and refreshing. A delightful tea to cleanse the palate; or to enjoy on a crisp, rainy Autumn day or evening!

I must say, The Republic of Tea’s 100% White Tea/Emperor’s White Tea is another varietal tea that I love. I purchased the traveler’s tin as a sample before I invested in a full size tin; I’m glad I did, it is very good and enjoyable.

The flavor profile is more along the lines of White Peony, which I think this tea is because the longer it steeps, the more of a green tea characteristic it takes on; the color turns towards the coloring of a Chinese green tea. You can definitely detect green tea characteristics, meaning you get the brightness [and a little of the tannins] of the top tier leaves that are picked with the buds even though this is a 100% white tea. The prominent flavor is of white tea with it’s floral delicacy with a slight hint of cream, but not much with this one and a transparent, sheer sweetness.

The aroma pretty well matches the flavor profile.

The aftertaste is of a usual tea, a little disappointing since I do love white teas and how some linger a little afterwards. There is a modest afterthought of the floral delicacy and sweetness along with the hint of tannins of a green.

I would have given this tea a 100 score but because of the somewhat tannin characteristic and carry over into the aftertaste, this is why this tea scores a 90.

I would highly recommend this tea; and this is a very good choice for an evening tea to relax and unwind with; it has very little caffeine, not stimulating at all.

P.S. – Since I truly LOVE and absolutely adore Steven Smith Teamaker’s Bai Mu Dan (his White Peony), I tend to compare every one else’s white tea to his; but I do try to be fair and judge each white tea for what it is and of it’s own.